QChennai: Bomb Hoax Played on TN Assembly; Abandoned Baby Rescued

All roads leading to Fort St George Fort were also searched and visitors to the grand event were out through a rigorous security check.

The police in St George Fort, where Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami hoisted the national flag on Wednesday, were made to run around as a person had dialled the police control room and informed them that a ‘bomb’ had been planted in the premises. The man was later arrested.

The police in the control room informed the higher-ups, who, in turn, called the bomb squad in. “The bomb squad combed the entire fort premises and did not find any bomb,” the police said. All roads leading to Fort St George Fort were also searched and visitors to the grand event were out through a rigorous security check.

A just-born baby was rescued from a stormwater drain in Chennai on Independence Day and named Suthanthiram (Freedom).

While Independence Day on Wednesday meant a rainy government holiday for most Chennaites, Geetha a 45-year-old homemaker awoke to the faint wails of a crying baby. In the wee hours of Wednesday morning, Geetha’s milk man awoke her and confirmed her doubts about noises coming from the stormwater drain near her house in Valasarvakkam.

Walking the rainswept pathway, Geetha discovered to her horror, that it was a newborn baby. In gut wrenching visuals that have emerged on social media, Geetha is seen bending down and reaching deep into the storm water drain to pull out the baby. Moved by what was a roller-coaster day for her, Geetha also named the child. “I named him Sugandhiram because I found him on Independence Day. From today, he is Sugandhiram(freedom in Tamil). He can grow up freely,” she says.

As the cops at Aminjikarai police station were celebrating Independence Day, a 23-year-old man was stabbed to death by a four-member gang only a few metres away from the police station on Wednesday morning. The victim was identified as R Adityan (23) of Tirumangalam.

Sources said he was the main accused in a murder case that took place in Ayanavaram in 2015. And the main suspect, here was Sandeepkumar, an ambulance driver. “Adityan had attacked Sandeepkumar earlier along with his friends when the latter confronted him for having issues with his brother Rajkumar and added that Sandeepkumar might have murdered to take revenge for the attack. Police are also inquiring whether Adityan was killed to avenge the murder he had committed in 2015,” the police said.

The forecast for the State and Puducherry for Wednesday is isolated rain or thundershowers with heavy rainfall over the ghat areas of the Nilgiris, Theni, Dindigul, Tirunelveli and Coimbatore districts.

The city and its suburbs received a few spells of light to moderate showers on Wednesday, with an east-west trough extending from a well-marked low pressure over the north west Bay of Bengal bringing rain. On Tuesday till 8.30 pm, Nungambakkam recorded 3.32 cm of rain and Meenambakkam recorded 3.64 cm.

The sky condition is likely to be generally cloudy with a few spells of light to moderate rain likely to occur, according to sources in the Regional Meteorological Centre here. S. Balachandran, Director, Area Cyclone Warning Centre of the Regional Meteorological Centre, said that there was a likelihood that the well-marked low pressure over north west Bay of Bengal of Bengal and north Odisha coast is likely to intensify into a depression over the next 48 hours.

DMK leader MK Stalin told , “I feel no shame in admitting that we held on to the CM’s hand and pleaded with him to give us the burial space in Marina. All this because it was my leader’s last wish.”

A week after the death of former Chief Minister M Karunanidhi, the politics over his burial at the Marina refuses to die down. In scathing remarks against the DMK, Tamil Nadu Fisheries Minister D Jayakumar said it was the party’s fault the government refused to grant Kalaignar a resting place at the Marina.

He said, “Did DMK participate when the portrait of sacrificial leader Puratchi Thalaivi Amma (former CM J Jayalalithaa), who had dedicated her life for the welfare of the people of Tamil Nadu and Tamils, was inaugurated in the Assembly? They also got someone to file a case saying no images (of her) should be kept in government offices. They’ve also objected to a memorial at the Marina. Who is behind all this? DMK’s instigation and cases filed by the DMK.”

The film will be made in Telugu, Tamil and Hindi and is likely to have actors from Bollywood.

A biopic on the life of former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa will be directed by filmmaker Vijay, who has made films such as Madrasapattinam and Kireedom. The film will go on the floors on February 24.

Speaking about the project, Brinda Prasad Adusumilli, director, Vibri Media, which is producing the film, said through a statement, “Madam Dr J Jayalalithaa was one of those few regional leaders who went on to become a force to reckon with in Indian politics. Her life is an inspiration for womenfolk around the world. This film will be a tribute to her achievements, both in cinema and politics. We will launch the movie on her birthday, February 24. The first look of the biopic will be released on that very day.”

A 28-year-old man was found dead with his throat slit in Tirvottiyur on Wednesday morning. The victim was identified as Sridhar alias Venkatesan of Sivan Nagar in New Washermanpet, a street vendor, who was involved in buying clothes and plastic products in bulk to sell them on streets.

“On Wednesday morning, passersby noticed a corpse lying in bushes near a godown on Basin Road and alerted Tiruvottiyur police,” the police said. The body was immediately retrieved and sent to Stanley government hospital for post-mortem. The police added that the victim could have been murdered on Tuesday night. Tiruvottiyur police registered a case and investigating.